1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to media information processing systems and, more particularly, to an integrated system of specialized equipment modules for media information processing.
2. Description of the Related Art
The United States Census Bureau TIGER/Line™ files are a computer readable geographic database for the United States. The original sources of the database include U.S. geological survey maps, the 1980 U.S. Census Bureau DIME files, and various other sources. While these geographic files are usable as a base for a geographic information system, they are not recommended for detailed applications which require a high degree of positional accuracy. This is because the positional accuracy of the information contained in the file is limited by the scale of the U.S. Geological Survey maps from which the files are created.
In addition, information in the TIGER/Line™ files is only as complete and accurate as the source documents used by the U.S. Census Bureau and errors often occur in compilation and translation of information from source documents. Further, the information is only as current as the year in which the source documents were compiled and translated.
Because the information contained in a geographic information system such as the TIGER/Line™ files must be continually updated to reflect the most recent changes in the information contained therein, it is desirable to provide a method for collecting and processing video and spatial position information in a manner that allows updated attribute information to be tied to previously obtained spatial positional information.
One way in which to acquire accurate spatial position information is through the use of the Global Positioning System (GPS). The Global Positioning System is a network of satellites used to determine location. Since the orbital position of each satellite is known, a GPS receiver on the surface of the earth can accurately measure the time it takes for the transmitted signal to reach the receiver's location on earth. This measurement provides the distance between the satellite and the receiver. To obtain three dimensional positioning, the GPS receiver takes this measurement from each of at least four orbiting satellites. Using geometric principles, the information gathered by the GPS receiver can be used to calculate a tetrahedonal volume defined by four satellites and the receiver, and thus calculate an accurate spatial position on earth.
While the Global Positioning System can provide accurate spatial position information, problems arise when the GPS receiver is not able to receive information from at least four orbiting satellites. This occurs when the GPS receiver is obstructed by geographic features such as canyons or bluffs as well as man-made structures. Problems also arise when a signal transmitted by an orbiting satellite is reflected from a nearby object, giving the GPS receiver one or more incorrect readings from that satellite.
A further problem with the use of the Global Positioning System to provide spatial position information is that spatial position readings are often provided by the GPS receiver at a relatively slow rate; this depends on the quality of the receiver.
Several patents illustrate state-of-the-art distributive and geographic information systems. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,709,418 issued on Nov. 24, 1987 to John R. Fox et al. describes a wideband cable network in which several wideband services, such as television or video signals, can be provided simultaneously from a central service position to a remote wideband switch, to which several customers are connected. The central position is connected to the wideband switch by one or more passively tapped optical fibers, through which fixed-time services are provided and the central service position is connected to the wideband switch though one or more dedicated optical fibers, through which a customer can request and receive “on demand” wideband services.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,371,532 issued on Dec. 6, 1994 to Alexander Gelman et al. describes a communications architecture and method for distributing information services.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,418,713 issued on May 23, 1995 to Richard Allen describes an apparatus and method for an on demand data delivery system for the preview, selection, retrieval and reproduction at a remote location of previously recorded or programmed materials.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,528,518 issued on Jun. 18, 1996 to Mark Bradshaw et al. describes a system and method for collecting data to form a geographic information system database.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,584,025 issued on Dec. 10, 1996 to Ronald D. Keithley et al. describes an apparatus and method for interactive communication for tracking and viewing data. The apparatus is used for acquiring and displaying information relating to a specific field of interest. However, the apparatus does not describe specific methods for acquiring the information residing in the database or the manner in which the information will be related.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,633,946 issued on May 27, 1997 to Theodore M. Lachinski et al. describes a method and apparatus for collecting and processing visual and spatial position information from a moving platform. Global Positioning System data is captured separately while video recorders capture moving image sequences from a vehicle mounted apparatus. The Global Positioning System and Greenwich Mean Time data are correlated to video moving images during post video processing. However, Lachinski et al. fails to capture geospatial and video dimensionalities within an image at the time of creation. Moreover, Lachinski et al. fails to provide adequate functionalities necessary for efficient data processing.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,734,719 issued on Mar. 31, 1998 to James T. Tsevdos et al. describes a point-of-sale turnkey kiosk system for supplying digital content. The system employs geographically dispersed servers to provide content to the different kiosk locations. However, the system only provides information to a single computer network and is not developed for convergent delivery of various media data types and data sets to a variety of digital delivery networks.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,736,977 issued on Apr. 7, 1998 to Robert Lee Hughes describes a video real estate information service that includes regional offices that provide information over a computer network to local realty offices. The drawback of this service is that the service fails to calculate the data capacity required for providing video over a data network. Another drawback is that the lengths of the video segments are not identified and, therefore, an unknown capacity of the network must be designed. Moreover, the service only provides information to one class of user and to a single computer network. The service is not developed for convergent delivery of various media data types and datasets to varying digital delivery networks.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,852,810 issued on Dec. 22, 1998 to James P. Sotiroff et al. describes a geographic specific information search system and method. The system is configured to display a graphical map and to allow the user to narrow the geographical search area to the desired region. The system is also configured to accept a query criteria and search a database containing property listings for properties listed in the desired region meeting the entered search criteria.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,867,155 issued on Feb. 2, 1999 to Douglass Williams describes a video on demand distributed network for viewing real estate media. The patent describes distribution over large distributed data networks but never identifies the end use of the data. A drawback of this service is that it provides information to one class of user. The information is also only provided to computer networks and is not developed for convergent delivery of various media data types and datasets to varying digital delivery networks.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,893,113 issued on Apr. 6, 1999 to Timothy McGrath et al. describes a system and method for providing incremental updates of geographical data in navigation systems. However the date that an object is created or its geospatial location is not captured except for when an object is involved in a transaction. This level of geographic detail is insufficient to provide detailed geospatial information on media properties and suffers deficiencies that include lack of dimensionality and timestamping. Additionally, a distribution scheme that includes digital delivery networks is not identified.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,909,638 issued on Jun. 1, 1999 to Richard D. Allen describes a detailed network for storing and retrieving movies on demand from video retail stores or cable television systems. The network capacity cannot be accurately determined because of the different size videos that will be accessed over the network. Furthermore, no identification of the processes needed to acquire geographic media from the source has been identified. The system described does not provide information to networks for broadcasting or cablecasting and is not developed for convergent delivery of various media data types and datasets to varying digital delivery networks.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,945,985 issued on Aug. 31, 1999 to Babin et al, describes a three-dimensional, computer simulated, interactive multimedia geographic system. The system does not have a distributed delivery capability or geospatially referenced derived entities. The system does not provide information for broadcasting or cablecasting and the system is not developed for convergent delivery of various media types and datasets.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,953,722 issued on Sep. 14, 1999 to David S. Lampert et al. describes a system and method for forming and using a geographic database. The database is populated with geographic entities and these entities are described as having a unique physical location identification record or data attribute, which may be comprised of geospatial parameters. The geospatial parameters that are recommended for each entity are geographical coordinates and optionally absolute or relative altitude. The disclosure further describes a method of parcelization, representing a physical region based on geographic parameters. Although the location identification record may incorporate geographic coordinates and altitude, the system does not use concatenated geospatial parameters or timestamping data.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,968,109 issued on Oct. 19, 1999 to Vijaya S. Israni et al. describes a system and method for use and storage of geographic data on physical media. Representations of the data are based on navigational dimensional units, which expresses geographic coordinates as a derived unit of measure. As such, this system does not include temporal parameters and therefore suffers the same deficiencies as U.S. Pat. No. 5,953,722.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,988,078 issued on Nov. 23, 1999 to Michael R. Levine describes a method and apparatus to receive information over a wide-area network based on geographic location. In this apparatus the information provided is based on zip code geographic orientation. This level of geographic detail is insufficient to provide detailed geospatial information on entities and suffers deficiencies that includes lack of dimensionality and timestamping.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,999,924 issued to John Bair et al. describes a method and apparatus to produce sequenced queries that takes into account a range of values of a variable defined by a start and end point in performing the query. The start or end points are calculated if necessary and a query to collect all the start and end points may be generated, and a query is generated that produces a constant set of start and end points defining consecutive periods, such that all the data in the tables related to the original query is constant over each of these periods. These two queries are merged into the original query to produce a sequenced query capable of execution on various database software and capable of taking into account the range of values of the variable in performing the original query.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,029,173 issued to James A. Meek et al. on Feb. 22, 2000 describes a method and system for representation and use of shape information in geographic databases. Polynomial equations are used to generate control points for generating a Bezier curve for feature representation. The disclosed method is sufficient to provide detailed geospatial information on topological features but not on media entities. The lack of geographic positioning, dimensionality, and timestamping does not provide the requisite data for geospatial media management.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,038,568 issued on Mar. 14, 2000 to Timothy McGrath et al. describes a transaction method and programming for incrementally updating a geographic database. The database taxonomy fails to capture the date that the object was created or its geospacial location except when an entity is involved in a transaction. This level of geographic detail is insufficient to provide detailed geospatial information on media entities and suffers deficiencies that include lack of dimensionality and timestamping.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,047,234 issued on Apr. 4, 2000 to Kevin Cherveny et al. describes a system and method of updating, enhancing or refining a geographic database. In this system vehicles retrofitted with data collecting sensors collect data with a feedback mechanism for inclusion into a geographical database. Under this system operation geographical data is feed directly to databases on-board the vehicles. In this specification the data captured is topological data for a topological geographical database. This level of geographic detail is insufficient to provide detailed geospatial information on media entities and suffers deficiencies that include lack of dimensionality and timestamping.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,061,688 issued on May 9, 2000 to Paul E. Kilpatrick et al. describes a computer system that creates a metadata file having records connected to geographic locations on a map. Users access a “Spacial Database Engine” to match longitude and latitude. This generates a data key whereby users can query a metadata database where the key is matched to locations in a geographic database and index records, based on location, are presented. In this specification the metadata created is referenced to topological data from a topological geographical database. This level of geographic detail is insufficient to provide detailed geospatial information on media entities and suffers deficiencies that include lack of dimensionality, altitude referencing and timestamping.
Canadian Patent No. 2,112,101 issued on May 20, 2000 to David A. Wysocki et al. describes a positioning, navigation, and collision avoidance system for ships, aircraft, land vehicles and the like, which utilizes a geo-referenced digital orthophotograph database and a positioning signal to display upon a computer stereo graphics device a high visibility dynamic photographic image of the user's immediate environment, including both moving and stationary obstacles.
Canadian Patent No. 2,174,934 issued on May 20, 2000 to Ronald D. Keithley et al. describes an interactive multimedia communications system which access industry-specific information. An information processing system for acquiring and displaying information relating to a specific industry or interest.
European Patent No. 0,649,121 issued on Apr. 19, 1995 to Robert S. Barnhill et al. describes a digital data on-demand turnkey system at a customer premise wherein N number of servers provide for 100% of content distribution of remotely stored digitized information, which information may be previewed in real-time, and product incorporating selected digitized information that can be manufactured on-site and within a short response time to a customer's request at a point of sale location.
Canadian Patent No. 2,190,596 issued on May 20, 2000 to Theodore M. Lachinski et al describes a method for collecting and processing visual and spatial position information to form a geographic information database. Additionally, the information may be used to accurately determine the spatial position of an object seen in the collected visual information.
Canadian Patent No. 2,219,037 issued on May 20, 2000 to Grant S. Killey et al. describes an improved method and system that provides for a data access interface layer in a navigation system. The navigation system is of the type that includes a navigation application software program that provides navigating features to a user of the system and a geographic database stored on a computer-readable storage medium, wherein the geographical database includes information relating to the geographical region about which the navigation system provides the navigation features to the user.
None of the above inventions and patents, taken either singly or in combination, is seen to describe the instant invention as claimed.